Member Rating

Compare Prices on Viking Legend Europe - River Cruise Cruises

Fun Despite Flooding

Sail Date:
June 2013

Destination:
Europe - River Cruise

Embarkation:
Budapest

My wife and I were first time river cruisers on the Viking Legend. As luck would have it, our cruise started the day before historic flooding that made the last floods of 2002 look tame. In fact, the floods in Passau were almost 2' higher than the record flooding of 1501, the previous record. We were disappointed that we could not actually cruise, but did have 4 lovely dinners on the boat and made some great new friends during dining and on the bus tours that were arranged for our first several cities. Ultimately we had to abandon ship and be relocated to Munich where we were put up at the Westin Grand, a very up scale hotel. We were given options for additional tours from there. Yes, being on buses was tiring, but we completely understood that our Tour Director David, and all the staff did a magnificent job under trying circumstances. We were told that Viking management would be offering some type of compensation as an offset to the problems. Shortly after the end of our travels, More
Viking sent an email indicating we would receive a 75% credit of the cost of our cruise toward any cruise they offered. We thought that was more than fair and will definitely take advantage of the offer.

The ship itself was vintage 2009, but in excellent condition. Our room was very clean and both functional and comfortable.

Dining was an absolute pleasure. The chef made dishes from various regions, but there were always options for the less adventurous. We did not get the special wines and spirits option, but the wines included in the base price were excellent.

In short, the staff on board was great. Even the Captain pitched in to help get our luggage off the ship for our trip to Munich. All of the passengers we spoke to were also very complimentary of the way that adjustments were made to do as much as we could before the flooding became overwhelming. Less